'Filling the Void': Absence, Memory and Politics in Place Clichy

In 1899, a statue of Charles Fourier was inaugurated in Place Clichy in Paris. The monument's proponents hoped that the statue would breathe new life into Fourierism and draw younger adherents to this brand of utopian socialism. The statue attracted little attention, however, until its disappearance. In December 1941, Fourier's statue, like thousands of others throughout France, was dismantled by the Vichy regime, its bronze sent to Nazi Germany for munitions. Since then the empty base has become the site of frequent and strident political and artistic activity and a rebirth of Fourierism. The Surrealists, the Situationist International and, most recently, the Coordination des Intermittents et Precaires have looked to Fourier and his absent statue to further their own causes, be they revolutionary, utopian, or concerned with social justice, all the while leading to a rediscovery of Fourier's thought and its popularisation. What is interesting about the evocation of memory at this site, however, is thatcontrary to the intentions of the statue's nineteenth-century championsit is its absence that has led to memory work, and the destruction of Fourier's physical representation that has led to a resurgence of interest in his philosophy.